Refrigerator



June 13, 1939. I w. D. COLLINS ET AL 2,161,852

RRRRRRRRRRRR R v F'i l e d M a r c h 2 9 l 9 35 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 13, 1939. w. D. COLLINS ET AL REFRIGERATOR Filed March .llh.ll||llf.!ll|||li 1 :llll x III (1.. f z;

INYENTORS wmdzaaean um ATTORNEY.

June 13, 1939. w. D. COLLINS. ET AL 2,161,852

REFRIGERATOR Filed March 29, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 14w ATTORNEY.

June 13, 1939. w, D, OLLI S ETAL 2,161,852

REFR IGERAT OR Filed March 29, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 VENTORS 1N mA w ,zdw'l ATTORNEY.

Patented June 13, 1939 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATOR William D. Collins and Alfred E. Nave, Evansville, Ind., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Serve], Inc., Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application March 29,

11 Claims.

Our invention relates to refrigerators and has for an object the provision of a new and improved refrigerator cabinet which is readily fabricated, as fully set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings forming Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a refrigerator storage compartment assembly;

Fig. 8 is a detail section taken on line 8-8 in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a detail section taken on line 9-43 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a front view of the front panel;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the left side panel;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the right side panel for the refrigerator; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a top for the refrigerator.

The disclosure in this application is related to the disclosure in an application of Louis Ruthenburg, Serial No. 7,667, and an application of W. D. Collins, SerialNo. 7,733.

Referring to the drawings, we have shown in Fig. 1 a refrigerator cabinet [0 having a ther- In Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive is shown a frame which forms what may be referred to as the backbone of the cabinet. 'The frame is fabricated of iron or steel members which are welded together to form, in a general way, a chair-like structure. The bottom of the frame is formed by four generally channel-shaped members welded together at their ends. In Fig. 2 may be seen the outline of the front cross member l3 and the rear cross member I4. The front and rear members [3 and M are connected by side members l5-and l6 (Figs. 2 and 3). At the front corners of the bottom of the frame are 1935, Serial No. 13,603

two upright members I! and I8. These members are substantially Z-shaped. The joint in the lower left hand corner of Fig. 3 is shown enlarged in Fig. 5. At the rear corners of the. bottom of the frame are connected upright members l9 and 20 which are also channel-shaped as may be seen in the top view in Fig. 4. Near the top of the rear upright members l9 and 20 are secured forwardly projecting arm members 2| and 22. The upper ends of the rear uprights l9 and 20 are connected by an angle iron crossbar 23. Between the rear frame uprights l9 and 20, at the level of the upper ends of the front frame uprights l1 and I8, is connected a crossbar 24 having a semi-circular offset 25. Between the upper ends of the front frame uprights l1 and land the cross-bar 24 is mounted a horizontal sheet 26 havinga semi-circular portion 21 cut out at the rear edge to correspond with the semi-circular offset 25 in the cross-bar 24. The front of the sheet 26 is formed as a. step 28. Thesheet 26 is formed with a downturned flange 29 along the front edge and downturned flanges 30 along the side edges. In Fig. 6 is shown an enlarged view of the joint between the sheet 26 and the front frame upright l8. At each corner of the bottom of the frame are secured plates 3|. These plates may be referred to as base mounting plates and are for the purpose of securing the legs of the base 32 of the refrigerator, shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. '7 and 8, we have shown a refrigerator storage compartment which may be separately formed as a unit, for instance, as generally disclosed in Patent No. 1,878,111 to W. D. Collins. The compartment is formed by a. substantially rectangular casing 33, generally referred to as a liner. The liner 33 is preferably heavily porcelained on the interior, as well known, to provide sanitary walls for the storage compartment. The edge of the liner 33 is secured within a substantially rectangular wooden frame 3t. form of substantially rectangular slabs is secured around the outside of the liner 33, for instance, by thin straps or bands 36. It will be understood that any suitable means may be employed for secur ng the insulation in place around the liner. In the sectional view of the storage compartment assembly as shown in Fig. 8, there may be seen what is referred to as a window. This is an opening 31 through the rear wall of the liner 33 and insulation 35 to permit insertion of a cooling element into the storage compartment when a refrigeration apparatus is assem- Thermal insulation material in the bled with the cabinet. Below the window 31, the insulation is indented to form a semi-circular groove 38 which receives a portion of a refrigeration apparatus, namely, a gas heat exchanger of a refrigeration apparatus of the pressure equalized type.

The next step in the process of fabricating the cabinet is to mount the storage compartment assembly, just described, in position on the previously described frame. The position of the storage compartment assembly on the frame is indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 2. The lower edge of the storage compartment frame is formed with a step 39 (Fig. 7) which fits the step 28 of the steel frame. This permits accurate location of the storage compartment assembly on the frame. The semi-circular offset 25 in the crossbar 24 and the semi-circular opening 21 in the rear edge of the sheet 26 are aligned with the semicircular groove 38 in the insulation material at the back of the storage compartment assembly. The forward ends of the arms 2| and 22 at the top of the steel frame are secured to the top of the wooden frame 34 of the storage "compartment.

In Fig. 10 is shown what is referred to as the front panel 5| for the refrigerator cabinet which panel is substantially in the form of an inverted U. The front panel 5| is turned rearwardly around its periphery and is formed with a step so that, after the panel has been coated with a desired material, as, for instance, porcelain, it has the appearance indicated in Fig. 1. The periphery of the front panel 5| is turned inwardly to form a flange 40. The flange 40 is provided with tabs 4| along each side of the panel.. The front panel 5| is placed against the front of the pre- I viously described frame and storage compartment assembly and secured in place by fastening the tabs 4| to the wooden frame 34 around the storage compartment door opening and the front frame uprights l1 and 8.

In Figs. 11 and 12 are shown side panels 42 for the refrigerator. 'The side panels 42 are coated similarly to the front panel 5| as, for instance, with porcelain. The bottom and rear edges of the side panels 42 are flanged inwardly and the forward and top edges of the side panels are provided with L-shaped flanges 43 and 44 respectively. The L-shaped flanges 43 on the forward edges of the side panels 42 are provided with a plurality of notches 45 which are spaced apart the same distances as the tabs 4| on the front panel 5|. The side panels42 are placed in position on the sides of the refrigerator cabinet, as thus far assembled, by inserting. the L-shaped flanges 43 on the forward edges beneath the-flange 40 of the front panel 5|, the tabs 4| on the front panel 5| extending into the notches 45 and beneath the L-shaped flanges 43 on the forward edges of the side panels 42. The inturned flanges at the rear of the panels 42 are secured to the tially chair-shaped metal frame having a rectangular .base formed by four channel members rear frame uprights l9 and 20. The forward edges of the side panels 42 arethus locked beneath the edge of the front panel 5| and require no other- At the same time, the side' The top is substantially flat with downwardly rolled sides. The side edges of the top panel 46 are flanged inwardly and the forward edge is provided with an L-shaped flange 41 similar to the flange 43 on the side panels 42 except that the flange 41 is continuous, there being no tabs along the top edge of the front panel 5|. The top panel 46 is placed in position on the top of the refrigerator by inserting the L-shaped flange 41 beneath the flange 40 along the top edge of the front panel 5|, and lowering the sides onto the top edges of the side panels 42 to lock the L-shaped flanges 44 on the side panels.

The rear edge of the top panel 46 overlies the space between the two rear*- frame uprights and 20 and is provided with a recess 48. This recess permits air to flow upwardly through the space between the frame uprights I9 and 20 and out at the top of the'refrigerator. A ledge 49 around the recess 48 is provided to support a suitable screen or grille, not shown. In order to prevent air from circulating rapidly beneath the top panel 46, a sheet metal plate 50, referred to as an air deflector, is'mounted above the top cross-bar 23 at the top of the rear frame uprights l9 and 20 (Fig. 2).

It will be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of our invention which, therefore, is not limited to that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising a substantially chair-shaped metal frame having a rectangular base formed by four channel members welded together at their ends, a pair of front uprights welded to the forward corners of said base, an upright back formed by a pair of facing channel members welded to the rear corners of said base, a seat formed by a metal sheet secured at the front to the upper ends of saidfront uprights and at the rear to the channel members forming said back, said seat being formed with an upward step at its forward edge, and a pair of arms extending forwardly from the channel members.

forming said back and adjacent the upper ends thereof, a substantially rectangular storage compartment unit seated on said frame and comprising a rectangular liner open at the front, insulation material around the liner, and a wooden frame around, the open front of the liner, the lower front edge of said unit being formed with a step adapted to engage saidstep on the forward edge of said frame seat, said forwardly projectingarms of the frame being attached to said wooden frame, and a sheet 'metal casing comprising a front panel secured tosaid wooden frame, and one or more side panels locked forwardly beneath the edge of said front panel and secured at the rear to the channel members forming the back of said frame. I

2. A refrigerator cabinet including a substansaid back, said seat being formed with an upward,

step at its forward edge, and a pair of arms extending forwardly from the channel members forming said back and adjacent the upper ends thereof, an insulated storage compartment unit seated on said frame and having a step adapted to engage said step on the forward edge of said frame seat, said forwardly projecting arms of the frame being attached to said storage compartment unit, and a sheet metal outer casing.

3. A refrigerator cabinet comprising ,a substantially chair-shaped frame having an upright back, a seat formed with a step at its forward edge, and a pair of arms extending forwardly from said back and adjacent the top thereof, an insulated storage compartment unit seated on said frame and having a step adapted to engage said step on the forward edge of said frame seat, said forwardly projecting arms of the frame being attached to said unit, and a sheet metal outer casing. a

4. A refrigerator cabinet including metal Shapes forming a chair-like skeleton frame hav'- ing seat, legs, base and back, and having an upstanding ledge at the front of'the seat, an independent self-contained unit including a liner and insulation adjacent the outside of the liner, said last-mentioned unit being formed to rest on the seat of the frame and having a recess mating with said upstanding ledge, and an outside shell enclosing the frame, liner and insulation.

5. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combination, a chair-shaped frame structure including a horizontal seat, members to support said seat, and a back extending upward at the rear of said seat, an independent insulated storage compartment unit adapted to be fitted and seated on said seat, said chair-shaped frame structure providing an unobstructed space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said insulated storage compartment unit on said seat, and a sheet metal casing forming outer walls of the cabinet and enclosing both said insulated storage compartment unit and said chair-shaped frame structure.

6. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combination, a chair-shaped frame structure including a horizontal seat, members to support said seat, and a back extending upward at the rear of said seat, an independent insulated storage compartment unit adapted to be fitted and seated on said seat, said chair-shaped frame structure providing an unobstructed space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said insulated storagecompartment unit on said seat, the general shape of the cabinet being defined only after said insulated storage compartment unit is fitted and seated on said seat, and an outer casing enclosing both said insulated storage compartment unit and said chair-shaped frame structure and forming an apparatus compartment beneath said seat.

7. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combi-- nation, a, chair-shaped frame structure including a horizontal seat formed with a step at its forward edge, members to support said seat, and a back extending upward at the rear of said seat, an independent insulated storage compartment unit adapted tolbe fitted and seated on said seat and having a step adapted to engage said step at the forward edge of said seat, said chair-shaped frame structure providing an unobstructed space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said insulated storage'compartment unit on'said seat, and the general shape of the cabinet being defined only after said insulated storage compartment unit is fitted and seated on said seat.

8,. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combination, an openwork skeleton frame of chair formation substantially devoid of insulation and plating, said frame having a subframe forming a seat, and members to support said seat, an independent liner-and-insulation unit adapted to be fitted and seated on said seat, said skeleton frame of chair formation providing an unobstructed space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said liner-and-insulation unit on said seat, and an outer casing fitting and surrounding both said frame of chair formation and said liner-and-insulation unit after they are assembled.

9. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combination, a chair-shaped frame structure including a horizontal seat, members to support said seat, a back extending upward at the rear of said seat, and a pair of arms adjacent the upper part of said back, an independent insulated storage compartment unit adapted to be fitted and seated on said seat, said chair-shaped frame structure providing an unobstructed space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said insulated storage compartment unit on said seat, means to attach said arms to the upper part of said insulated storage compartment unit, and a sheet metal casing forming outer walls of the cabinet and enclosing both said insulated storage compartment unit and said chairshaped frame structure.

10. A refrigerator cabinet comprising, in combination, a first unit including a frame structure in the form of a chair, said frame structure ineluding a portion forming a seat, and members to support said seat, a second unit comprising a liner encased in insulation and adapted to be fitted and seated on said seat, said frame structure in the form of a chair providing an unobstructed Space above said seat at the front and lateral sides thereof to facilitate the reception of said second unit on said seat, and an outer sheet metal casing surrounding and fitting both of said units when'they are assembled.

11. The combination as set forth in claim 10 and including means to secure said liner and insulation unit to an upper part of said frame 

